Skincare

When as a child, I saw a skincare ad on TV for the first time, I turned to my father to ask, "does that work?".
"No", he replied and then went to his workshop to cure and treat hides for leatherworking.

As a teenager I had unhealthy skin which always verged on extremes: being either uncomfortably greasy or painfully dry. My acne became so problematic that around age 15 my parents took me to a dermatologist and I ended up on a low-dose antibiotics course for over a year to manage it.

For over a decade I've not given it any consideration. I started dabbling in skincare last year; this is my stack:

• Caffeine Solution 5% + ECG (The Ordinary) - reduces puffy eyes
• 10% Matrixyl (Revolution) - has somewhat made my acne scarring less visible
• Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2% (The Ordinary) - antioxidants good?
• Toner - fancy water sprayed on before applying moisturizer helps the skin retain moisture
• CeraVe Moisturizing Cream - keeps my skin balanced: not dry nor greasy

In the evening I go through this routine again, prefaced with 2% BHA Liquid Peeling (Balea - DM) which has been very effective in preventing acne and replacing the ascorbic acid with Retinol.